Senegalese Peanut Tofu Soup

One of my favorite lunch places in Charlottesville is Revolutionary Soup – located both at the Corner and in the Downtown Mall, this little place offers some of my favorite soups that are absolutely irresistible during the winter. My favorite one is their Spicy Senegalese Peanut Tofu Soup – as someone who does not even like tofu, I was amazed by how much the tofu had taken on the taste of the tomato and peanut broth in which it had been cooked. So a few weeks ago, we decided to try replicating it, thanks to the recipe I found at It’s Not About the Recipe. We were away for a mini-vacation and this soup, along with some guacamole grilled cheese seemed like the perfect dinner for a chilly evening in a cabin. Though the final version was not spicy like that in Rev.Soup, the rest of the flavor profile was the same and the next time I’ll definitely add jalapenos to the soup as well. This recipe gives enough servings for 5-6 people.

Senegalese Peanut Tofu Soup with a Guacamole Grilled Cheese

Ingredients

2 tbs vegetable oil

2 onions, diced

2 tsp, chopped fresh ginger

2 sweet potatoes, cut into 1 inch cubes

3 large garlic cloves, minced

Salt and pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne or red pepper flakes

1 14 oz can crushed tomatoes

5 cups chicken stock or water

3/4 cup peanut butter

1/2 lb tofu, diced into 1/4 inch cubes

3/4 cup scallions, sliced

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

Directions

Heat oil over high heat in a large heavy pot. Add onions, ginger, and sweet potato and saute about 8 minutes until the onion starts to brown.

Add garlic after five minutes. Add 1 tsp of salt, some ground pepper, and the cayenne pepper. Cook for two more minutes.

Add the tomatoes and use the juice to scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Add the vegetable stock or water, bring to a boil, cover, lower the heat, and simmer for 20-25 minutes.

Add the peanut butter and stir until dissolved.

Puree the soup until smooth using an immersion blender or in batches in a blender (since we did not have a blender at that point, we ended up just mashing the mix, and it turned out pretty delicious even when it was a little chunky!).

Add the tofu and cook until tofu is heated through. Serve hot. Top with scallions and cilantro.